


Tall

by Elenhin



Category: The Almighty Johnsons
Genre: Gen, Tall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-08
Updated: 2014-03-08
Packaged: 2018-01-15 01:36:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1286302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elenhin/pseuds/Elenhin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Axl is the tallest of the four brothers, in spite of being the youngest. Anders is the shortest of them, but perhaps there is more to a man than his height...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Aramirandme81](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aramirandme81/gifts).



> Maybe there is more to a man than how many inches he reaches, and maybe you can look up to someone who is shorter than you are yourself.

Tall

 

Axl is the tallest in the family, out of the four brothers. He might be the youngest but he is the tallest and he really enjoys it. He might not be the smartest, but he is the tallest. 

 

He is a lot younger than his brothers, Mike really having been more like a father to him. He remembers playing with them, curling up in laps to demand stories and piggyback rides. 

 

Ty had been enough older to let him ride on his shoulder, yet young enough to really play with him. Anders too, and Axl remember a time when he had been slightly confused about that. They had talked about families in school, and when asked about his big brothers, he had ranked them in the wrong order. He proudly declared that Mike was the oldest, then Ty and then Anders, because it made sense since Ty was taller than Anders. 

 

He couldn’t really understand why Anders was so annoyed by that. The bigger the brother, the bigger the brother, right? The oldest was the biggest. He himself grew quickly, almost always the biggest boy in the class. He always knew that Ty and Anders were bigger though, and he loved them. He loved the way Ty would play with him and Anders would tell him stories. He could always make them carry him when he felt too tired to walk. Like when they played in the park. He never had to worry about saving energy for the walk back. Even if Mike wasn’t along and Anders claimed he was growing too big and heavy Axl knew how to get his way. 

 

Ty was strong for his age, and big, taller than Anders and stronger so he could carry him. He liked to run and would always go for runs when they were at the park. While Axl found someone to play with. Anders did not really like to play like that. He was small and agile though and would sometimes agree to play with Axl on the monkey bars. He might not be strong but he could crawl through all the small spaces when he wanted to.   
  
He just didn’t most of the time because he claimed it made him dirty and sweaty. If Ty or Mike was there as well he wouldn’t. He would sit somewhere and look at girls instead. 

 

Axl could still make him give him piggyback rides home because he was too tired to walk. Anders always complained because Axl was nearly as big as he was and weighed more since Anders was so skinny. Anders was older though, so Axl thought it was just fair that his brother let him ride on his back on the way home. Until Mike made them stop. 

 

Axl didn’t realize anything was wrong, even if he whined that Anders was walking too slow. He tried to make him go faster but it did not work, and once they got into the house all Anders did was make Axl a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before curling up on the couch. He wouldn’t play with him either, not at all, which made Axl tell Mike that Anders was being mean. 

 

Mike however took Anders’ side when he discovers that Anders has strained the muscles in his lower legs and shoulders so much carrying Axl that he can barely get off the couch and whimpers as soon as he has to walk somewhere so that Mike winds up carrying him. 

 

That’s when Mike tells them both that Anders is not to carry Axl again unless someone's’ life depends on it. 

 

Axl pouts and looks to Anders, expecting him to argue it, but instead his brother looks relieved so Axl is quite mad at him. 

 

Anders is smaller than he is, so Axl finds it both amusing and easy to tease him. He can laugh at him as he is taller, and he can wrestle him down because of it as well. 

 

When they both wants the last doughnut it is Axl who gets it. He grabs it and holds it high up over his head because Anders refuses to try and reach for it when he knows he can’t. 

 

When Valerie says they can share the last ice cream Anders does not get any because Axl wrestles him to the floor so he can get it all. Really there is not enough for sharing, and why should he have to share with someone who is so much smaller than he is when that someone is older and therefore should be taller? 

 

It is only when he passes Ty and Mike in height that he starts to realize that being the tallest does not always mean what he thought it meant. He might be taller than Mike, but that does not change the fact that Mike has raised him. He’s taller than Ty too, but it took him longer to reach their height and now he is old enough to understand that smaller does not always make you lesser. Perhaps he has been a bit unfair about that, but he is not sure yet. 

 

The fact remains that while he has never quite stopped looking ‘up’ to Mike, he has been looking ‘down’ on Anders for a long time. 

 

The strangest thing is that Anders has never really tried to stop him, but then again Axl has to wonder how would he have been able to. 

 

They have disagreed with each other several times and there has been a couple of childish arguments. He has given Anders an endless number of cuts and bruises during those, and even a broken arm when he was younger. 

 

It does not really make him bigger or better, just makes him a bully who prays on the smaller. 

 

The same as the idiots he used to hate for doing that in school. Gang up on the smaller one, because that one can’t fight back. 

 

Anders does not stand a chance. 

 

He has been taking a lot for granted, things he considers to be his right because he is younger, well, then perhaps the one who is smaller should have the same right.   


Though he doubts the last cupcake will help Anders to grow taller, it’s probably too late for that.   
  
He just remembers how Anders would make him drink milk because he said it would make him grow tall, probably because he already then knew it was hell to be small. 

 

Wanting Axl to grow taller than he himself even when he had to know what it would be like if he did was really a pretty big sacrifice he has to admit. 

 

When you think at the bigger picture and not inches or marks on a doorpost he has to admit that perhaps Anders isn’t so very small after all. When it comes to the really important things, then perhaps he is the tallest of them all. 

  
The End

 

please comment, the Cricket is hungry... 


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